When you open a New Tab on the Google Chrome mobile app (available on Android and iOS), you are presented with the Google search bar, a few shortcuts to your most visited sites, and an endless scrolling list of news articles. This list is called the “Discover” feed. Google curates this feed based on your web activity and search history. While it can occasionally provide interesting reading material, it can also be a massive distraction when you simply want to open a new tab to quickly search for a specific piece of information. If you want a clean, minimalist New Tab page, you can easily hide this feed.
How to Hide the Discover Feed
You can collapse the feed directly from the New Tab page itself; you do not need to dig through the main settings menu.
- Open the Google Chrome app on your smartphone or tablet.
- Tap the + button (or open the tab switcher and tap New Tab) to open a fresh, blank tab.
- Look just below your row of circular website shortcuts. You will see the word Discover (or sometimes “Articles for you”).
- To the right of the word “Discover,” tap the small gear icon (Settings).
- A small pop-up menu will appear at the bottom of the screen.
- Tap on Turn off.
The entire feed of news articles will instantly vanish. Your New Tab page will now look incredibly clean, featuring only the Google logo, the search bar, and your site shortcuts, allowing you to browse without distractions.